borum occupatae. deinde, etiamsi quid apud maiores nostros fuit in isto studio admirationis, id enuntiatis vestris mysteriis totum est contemptum et abiectum. posset agi lege necne, pauci quondam sciebant; fastos enim vulgo non habebant; erant in magna potentia qui consulebantur, a quibus etiam. dies tamquam a Chaldaeis petebatur. inventus est scriba quidam Cn Flavius, qui cornicum oculos confixerit et singulis diebus ediscendis fastos populo proposuerit et ab ipsis causis iure consultorum sapientiam compilarit. Itaque irati illi, quod sunt veriti, ne dierum ratione pervulgata et cognita sine sua opera lege agi posset, verba quaedam composuerunt, ut omnibus in rebus ipsi interessent. XII. cum hoc fieri bellissime posset: 'fundus Sabinus 26 as the questions whether a man was to be buried in culto loco or inculto loco, and whether a man had left his whole property to Aéwv or his property to Πανταλέων (πάντα Λέοντι οι Πανταλέοντι), given by Quintil VII 9 §§ 5, 6; many such ambiguities, observes Zumpt, are found in laws. agi lege] whether actions at law could be brought or no,' compare div in Caecil§ 19, i e whether a certain day belonged to the dies fasti or nefasti, compare Ovid fasti I 45 foll. fastos] calendar,' with the days marked F or N. qui consulebantur] the pontifices, in whose hands the regulation of the calendar lay, and who were the jurisconsults until 304 BC. a Chaldaeis] as an astrologer is entreated to point out a 'lucky' day. Cn Flavius] compare de orat IS 186, ad Att VI IS 8, Plin H N XXXIII 17. qui confixerit] compare Plautus capt 568 tu enim repertu's Philocratem qui superes veriverbio. cornicum oculos] i e took in know ing men; a proverb, compare pro ediscendis] by learning the days one by one, ie whether they were fasti or nefasti. So Pliny, Appi Caeci hortatu exceperat eos dies consultando adsidue sagaci ingenio.. Halm has discendis, dative, 'for learning.' ab ipsis causis] i e consultando adsidue, as Pliny says; 'from the individual cases in court.' Sorof also keeps this reading. He seems to have noted not merely the day on which the case was tried, but also the form of pleading [actiones, Cic 11 cc above]. compilarit] 'pilfered,' got together by hook or by crook.' verba] they made the forms of pleading more and more intricate. xii 26 Cicero gives an instance of legal formalities, a lis vindiciarum or actio rei vindicandae. It was one of those conducted with a legal wager or stake (actio sacra meus est': 'immo meus,' deinde iudicium: noluerunt. fundus, inquit, qui est in agro, qui Sabinus vocatur. satis verbose: cedo, quid postea? eum ego ex iure Quiritium meum esse aio. quid tum? inde ibi ego te ex iure manum consertum voco. quid huic tam loquaciter litigioso responderet ille, unde petebatur, non habebat. transit idem iure consultus, tibicinis Latini modo; unde tu me, gave security to the praetor for the money, and the loser forfeited the fixed sum to the State. Gaius IV 13. These actiones were intended to supplement the defective old law. like bellissime] conversational, our 'nicely.' 'Though it might have been done very nicely thus, "the Sabine estate belongs to me." "No, to me," and then the trial and decision; they would not have it so,' i e the iuris consulti. inquit] 'says the jurist.' ex iure Quiritium] so Gaius IV 16. in accordance with the legal rights of a Roman citizen.' Opposed to in bonis esse. Compare Gaius II 40, 41,......ut alius possit esse ex iure Quiritium dominus, alius in bonis habere. nam si tibi rem mancipi neque mancipavero neque in iure cessero, sed tantum tradidero, in bonis quidem tuis ea res efficitur, ex iure Quiritium vero mea permanebit, donec tu eam possidendo usucapias. inde] for that reason I call you from the praetor's tribunal to join hands with me on the said estate.' inde. i e quia meum esse aio. Compare unde...inde below. ex iure] We learn from Gellius XX 10 §§ 6-10 that the solemn joining of hands and claiming of a disputed property was of old per formed on the property in the presence of the praetor; for the XII tables said si qui in iure manum conserunt. As the empire of Rome grew in Italy and the praetors were more and more busied with their juridical functions, they found it too much of a burden to go far and near, settling questions of property on the spot; hence by tacit consent the custom was changed; the parties, instead of joining hands in iure (ie before the praetor), went on challenge to the property in question ex iure (ie from the presence of the praetor), joined hands there, and brought back some piece or other into court, e g a clod to which they laid claim as representing the property. See Appendix E. loquaciter] with adjective. Compare de off III § 112 acerbe severus. Tusc disp v § 6 impie ingratus. Sorof. unde] i e a quo fundus petebatur. 'the defendant knew not how to answer such a chattering pettifogger,' the bombastic forms are too much for him. Forunde compare Cat maior § 12 quasi iam divinarem illo exstincto fore unde discerem neminem. transit] changes sides and prompts the defendant, as a flute-player accompanies first one singer, then another. Quint VII I § 51 has adopted this simile. Latini] The story in Liv IX 30 shews that they were not Roman citizens. Thus the haruspices were Etruscans, Ernesti, inquit, ex iure manum consertum vocasti, inde ibi ego te revoco. praetor interea ne pulchrum se ac beatum putaret atque aliquid ipse sua sponte loqueretur, ei quoque carmen compositum est, cum ceteris rebus absurdum, tum verò in illo: suis utrisque superstitibus praesentibus istam viam dico; ite viam. praesto aderat sapiens ille, qui inire viam doceret. redite viam ; eodem duce redibant. haec iam tum apud illos barbatos ridicula, credo, videbantur, homines, cum recte atque in loco constitissent, iuberi abire, ut, unde abissent, eodem statim redirent. isdem ineptiis fucata sunt illa omnia: quando te in iure conspicio, et haec: anne tu dicas, qua ex causa vindicaveris? quae dum barbatos] compare pro Sestio § 19 unum aliquem ex barbatis illis, exemplum imperii veteris, imaginem antiquitatis. The custom of shaving was introduced into Italy BC 3c0. See Prof Mayor's note on Juven XVI 31 dignum barba dignumque capillis maiorum. in loco] so Tac Ann II 4. loco is also used thus. quando te in iure conspicio] It went on postulo anne fuas auctor. 'As I see you here in court, I want to know whether you are responsible for the title.' This seems to be some part of the formal procedure in a suit concerning a disputed title, and is quoted again in pro Caecina § 54 actio est in auctorem praesentem his verbis ; quandoque te in iure conspicio. For auctor see on § 3. anne tu dicas] Gaius IV 16 has postulo, anne......, but the text there is corrupt, and Zumpt, with great plausibility, maintains that the MSS postul has been wrongly completed. anne dicas he makes numquid aliud an dicturus es; but I am not sure that I understand this. It is a part of the proceeding in a case of vindicatio, as above. The clod was brought into court, and was claimed by either party in turn, as above, erant occulta, necessario ab eis, qui ea tenebant, petebantur ; postea vero pervulgata atque in manibus iactata et excussa. inanissima prudentiae reperta sunt, fraudis autem et stultitiae 27 plenissima. nam cum permulta praeclare legibus essent constituta, ea iure consultorum ingeniis pleraque corrupta et depravata sunt. mulieres omnes propter infirmitatem consilii maiores in tutorum potestate esse voluerunt: hi invenerunt genera tutorum, quae potestate mulierum continerentur. sacra or adding sicut dixi, ecce tibi, vindictam imposui. This was a festuca or wand, symbolizing the hasta spear, the Roman sign of ownership. Then the praetor told both to let the thing go (mittite ambo). The first claimant then asked the defendant (as here), why he had laid claim to the thing; the latter answered ius peregi, sicut vindictam imposui. A went on quando tu iniuria vindicavisti (since your claim is a wrongful one), D aeris sacramento te provoco [or L aeris etc], and B rejoined similiter ego te. The proceedings then took the form of a personal action, founded on the alleged neglect of an obligation, and it was regularly tried by a iudex or arbiter. This was in iudicio, as opposed to in iure, before the magistrate. Lord Mackenzie, Roman Law, part v cc 2, 3; Gaius IV 5; and for distinction between civil and criminal causes, Mommsen book IV C IO. tenebant] 'knew,' 'were skilled in them.' compare tenet § 22. Or perhaps were exclusively in possession of them.' Compare § 25. excussa]'shaken out,' 'examined.' Compare de off III § 81; Tusc disp I § 88. See fraudis] chicanery' or 'pitfalls,' as one who pleaded informally causa cadebat. Compare on § 9. 27 iure consultorum] This rare form is certainly found here. infirmitatem consilii] so Gaius I 144 propter animi levitatem. Ulpian XII propter sexus infirmitatem et propter forensium rerum ignorantiam. But Gaius I 190 ridicules this latter theory, which however was not uncommon. genera tutorum] Sometimes a man, instead of appointing by will a guarIdian for his wife in event of his own decease, gave her in that case the right to choose for herself. Such a guardian was called tutor optivus, and would no doubt be chosen as one whom the woman could manage to lead. But the most common way of shaking off a disagreeable tutor was this: the woman got her tutor's consent to her making a coemptio fiduciae causa; then the coemptionator made her over again to some person of her own choice. This latter emancipated her, and then she was only the ward of the man who had emancipated her, her tutor fiduciarius. Gaius I 114, 115, 166, 195. sacra]i e privata, often great bur dens on property at Rome, in honour of the tutelary god of a family or gens. In order to ensure their maintenance (perpetua), they went with the property. compare de legib II § 47 foll, orator § 144. Plaut capt 775 sine sacris heredita tem an unencumbered property. From Paulus diac p 77 we learn that the proper title of an heir to property burdened with sacra was everriator. interire illi noluerunt: horum ingenio senes ad coemptiones faciendas interimendorum sacrorum causa reperti sunt. in omni denique iure civili aequitatem reliquerunt, verba ipsa tenuerunt, ut, quia in alicuius libris exempli causa id nomen invenerant, putarent, omnes mulieres, quae coemptionem facerent, Gaias vocari. iam illud mihi quidem mirum videri solet, tot homines tam ingeniosos post tot annos etiam nunc statuere non potuisse, utrum diem tertium an perendinum, iudicem an arbitrum, rem an litem dici oporteret. XIII. ita- 28 que, ut dixi, dignitas in ista scientia [consularis] numquam fuit, quae tota ex rebus fictis commenticiisque constaret, gratia vero multo etiam minus. quod enim ómnibus patet et aeque promptum est mihi et adversario meo, id esse gratum nullo pacto potest. itaque non modo beneficii collocandi spem, coemptiones] The coemptio was a symbolic sham-sale, by which a woman passed into the power of some man either matrimonii causa, ie in manum mariti sui, or fiduciae causa (transacted either with her husband or some stranger); for instance, if a woman inherited an estate burdened with sacra, she cum sene coemptionem fecit. He then came into her property, sacra ` included. Then he at once manumitted her, and gave back the property in parcels as dona. The old man being poor (in fact chosen as such), when he died, had no property to leave, and the sacra fell through for want of heirs. See Gaius, I 113, 114. aequitatem.......tenuerunt] They have dropped the spirit and held fast to the mere letter.' in alicuius libris] In some treatise on the forms of coemptio. ut putarent] I prefer this with Zumpt and the MSS. so as actually to fancy that '......For ut see on § II. This is of course mere banter on Cicero's part, as Gaius, Gaia, Titius, Titia, Seius, Seia etc are legal personae ficticiae. Gaia seems to have been generally employed. in forms of coemptio. Compare John Doe' and 'Richard Roe." See Quint I 7 § 28. iam] now really,' 'upon my word.' Compare Phil 11 § 8 iam invideo magistro tuo, ib § 19. non potuisse] Of course these are merely the usual redundancies of legal caution. tertium according to Roman circulation would be=perendinum. arbitrum, either appointed by the parties, without interference of a magistrate, or by the magistrate after the preliminary hearing in iure. Compare on § 26. In this latter sense he was properly called iudex. In the XII Tables was 'iudici arbitrove.' xiii 28 [consularis] Halm plausibly urges that this is most likely a gloss, as gratia is directly opposed to dignitas, and in § 25 Cicero says primum dignitas in tam tenui scientia non potest esse. But I am not clear that his reasons are conclusive. promptum] 'ready to hand.' Compare de orat I § 237 prompta defensio, II in Verr IV § 42. Sorof. |